Western Heads East - Recruiting Interns for Summer 2020

Western Heads East is a collaboration between Western University and several East African partners in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda to promote health and sustainability through probiotic yogurt. Since its inception nearly 2 decades ago, these collaborative partnerships have together established 250 community yogurt kitchens across East Africa, providing over 260,000 individuals with ‘Fiti’ probiotic yogurt. Western students across all faculties and programs have previously participated in these 90-day internship, including both undergraduate and graduate students. 

More details about the internships can be found on Atlas.

We are currently recruiting interns for the summer 2020 term to participate on the following community projects in East Africa:

  • The Aga Khan Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya is seeking two interns to establish a pilot project with a new fiti yogurt kitchen as a sustainable model for knowledge mobility around nutrition and reproductive health.
  • The Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya is seeking two interns for their International Internship Program (IIP). The two successful candidates will be paired with a clinical or research-focused supervisor to collaborate on various programs within the hospital environment. 
  • The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has requested up to four interns to collaborate with colleagues and students at JKUAT to grow the Fiti Research and Health Centre. Interns will work in Juja, Kenya with JKUAT to increase awareness of the Fiti Centre, the health benefits of probiotics, to conduct an education/awareness campaign on general nutrition.
  • The Education for Better Living (EBLI) non-governmental organization in Mwanza, Tanzania has requested up to four interns to work with the organization by assisting with and promoting the organization's current operations. The current project is collaborating with a biomass charcoal facility which converts charcoal waste into bricks, which can be sold by young mothers for income. 
  • The Mikono Yetu Organization is a women-led, grassroots non-profit organization which seeks to empower women in Mwanza, Tanzania. Maimuna Kanyamala, Executive Director of MikonoYetu has requested up to four interns to work with the organization by assisting with and promoting the organization's current operations, including the support of Fiti yogurt production and distribution through a fiti launch event, plans for a training and production centre and a girl’s empowerment initiative called ‘the Eagle Movement’.
  • The University of Rwanda (UR) is prepared to establish a Fiti Probiotic Research and Production Centre at the university which will engage students and faculty in experiential learning and research related to Fiti probiotics, while also acting as a training and education centre for community groups to become involved in the program. The Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at UR - College of Medicine and Health Sciences, has requested up to four interns to work with the Fiti probiotic program in Kigali.
  • The Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza, Tanzania has requested two interns to collaborate with SAUT students to grow the campus Fiti Probiotic Yogurt Kitchen. Interns will engage with the campus community to enhance awareness of the kitchen and of the health benefits of the probiotic yogurt, increase sales for sustainability of the campus kitchen and of the kitchen’s benefit in providing educational and employment opportunities for SAUT students.

For more information on our 2020 internship opportunities or to submit an application, please log into Atlas using your uwo username and search for ‘Western Heads East’ under programs. Alternatively, feel free to contact the program coordinator directly at shuff2@uwo.ca.

Internship applications close January 10th, 2020 at midnight.